Monday, March 28, 2016

Fish Wins a Federal Case against Gold Diggers

On March 25, Oregon salmon has won a federal court case that upheld the state law restricting motorized gold mining (even on federal property) in and along
sensitive salmon streams. Both gold prospecting and salmon are important to
Oregon’s economy, history and culture. They clashed in court last year. Here is what happened.

In 2013, Oregon has enacted the Senate Bill 838 which
imposed a moratorium, until 2021, on mining that uses any form of motorized
equipment for the purpose of extracting gold, silver or any precious metal from
placer deposits of the beds or banks of waters. The law came as a result of
controversy around the practice of “suction dredge mining,” which is when pumps
suck up river bottom stones and rocks.

A group of gold miners has sued Oregon in order to
overturn that law. The miners argued before the U.S. District Court in Medford
that Oregon's ban on using motorized equipment during in-stream mining of
precious metals violates federal laws that have guaranteed mining access on
U.S. lands since the 1870s. Miners argued that, while Oregon has the right to
regulate mining on state lands, the state does not have authority to regulate
mining on federal lands located within the state. Miners further contend that
there is insufficient scientific evidence that suction dredge mining disturbs the
fish or pollutes water.

Environmental groups insist that the restrictions on
motorized equipment are necessary in order for OR to comply with the U.S.
Endangered Species Act. Environmentalists contend that suction dredge mining
disturbs river bottom spawning grounds for salmon that have been classified as
"threatened" or "endangered" under federal law.

The court has ruled for the salmon, holding that
Oregon is within its rights to regulate both state and federal land to protect
water quality and fish habitat.